Representing animation artists, writers and technicians since 1952.

Tucking Money Away For Retirement

I’ll be racing around doing 401(k) enrollment meetings for the next month or two, so kindly note this:

… The median household approaching retirement has a nest egg of between $10,000 and $20,000. This number is drawn down significantly because 41% of these households have no retirement savings whatsoever. … That doesn’t necessarily mean these retirees will have nothing to provide income in retirement. Consider:

56% are homeowners, with 22% having paid off their house in full.

32% have a defined benefit plan (i.e., a pension).

Furthermore, though the report doesn’t provide a specific number, most of these retirees will eventually claim some type of Social Security benefit. As the authors note, “Social Security replaces a higher percentage of earnings for lower-income workers and their dependents than for higher-income workers.” …

Animation Guild members are in better positions than the unfortunate wretches above; they have two automatic pension plans going for them: 1) A monthly annuity known as a Defined Benefit Plan, and 2) an Individual Account Plan, which is a lump sum payout that happens when participants are retires. Few pension plans around today have both. Most have the second item, and that’s about it.

Guild members are among the few lucky duckies in the cartoon biz who have three pension plan available to them. On top of the default pensions named above, there is also TAG’s 401(k) Pension Savings Plan, which enables TAG members to defer up to $18,000 ($24,000 for 50+ folks).

Enrolling in the Guild’s 401(k) is a matter of filling out a couple of sheets of paper. But it also takes a recognition that the more you tuck away now, the less you’ll have to save when you’re nudging up against retirement and suddenly realize it would be great to have more money.